Sunday, June 17, 2012

Begging tips from Stevenson!

I am always on the look-out for fellow letter-writing enthusiasts. Imagine my extreme delight when I found a charming, witty, beggary-letter written from a 15-year-old Robert Louis Stevenson to his father, asking for more money. I found the letter reprinted in the newest issue of Reader's Digest. :) I've shared it for you, below. Take notes, my fellow writers--it's pure genius:

Respected Paternal Relative, I write to make a request of the most moderate nature. Every year I have cost you an enormous--nay, elephantine--sum of money for drugs and physician's fees, and the most expensive time of the twelve months was March.But this year the biting Oriental blasts, the howling tempests, and the general ailments of the human race have been successfully braved by yours truly. Does this not deserve remuneration?I appeal to your charity, I appeal to your generosity, I appeal to your justice, I appeal to your accounts, I appeal, in fine, to your purse.My sense of generosity forbids the receipt of more--my sense of justice forbids the receipt of less--than half a crown.Greetings from, sir, your most affectionate and needy son, R. Stevenson

Have you read Richardson's Clarissa? If you don't know it, it's an epistolary novel, an extremely long one, and the suspense is torturous, but it is so worth reading. You might like it, nourishment for an artistic mind with an unforgettable villain and heroine.

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I'm Rachel Heffington; in varying degress, that will mean a dreamer, a writer, a people-lover, and a great many other things. I write chiefly because I read, and I read chiefly because the love of Story is writ on my soul and I cannot escape it. I hope I can inspire readers with an ache for that one Story of which we are each a part. I released my debut novel, Fly Away Home (available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble online) in February, 2014, and my short Cinderella retelling (The Windy Side of Care) is scheduled to be released in the Five Glass Slippers collection published by Rooglewood Press in June.
I am so pleased to make your acquaintance; do stick around and partake in the whimsy!